Pakistan seeks details of boat seizure off Gujarat coast

Pakistan today raised with India the issue of arrest of eight suspected Pakistani smugglers off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat and sought details of the incident.

“Pakistan High Commission has formally approached Ministry of External Affairs to share details of seizure of two Pakistani boats and apprehension of their crew members this past weekend as reported by the Indian media,” Manzoor Ali Memon, Pakistani Press Attache here, said.

A boat carrying 232 kgs of narcotics with street value of Rs 600 crore was seized and eight Pakistani crew onboard were arrested in a joint intelligence-based operation by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard from international waters off Gujarat coast on April 20.

The crew were yesterday paraded before media onboard ICG vessel ‘Sangram’, which intercepted and apprehended the boat, and packets of the seized contraband, satellite phones and GPS system were also displayed.

Navy sources said an input about a second suspicious boat was also received.

“However, when we searched the area, no such boat was found,” they said.

Coast Guard rules out reports of another Pakistan boat

Coast Guard today clarified that there was only one Pakistani boat, which is already seized along with 8 crew while ferrying narcotics in international waters off Gujarat coast, and said the other boat spotted along with it could be from India for receiving the illicit consignment.

“There is an air about the second Pakistani boat (but) there is nothing like that (second boat). They must have been the receiving party from India and not from Pakistan, who must have fled seeing the operation (the joint operation of Navy and the Coast Guard on Monday),” Inspector General (Coast Guard), North-West Command, Kuldeep Singh Sheoran said today.

He was responding to a query on spotting of the second boat along with the seized boat which was intercepted while carrying 233 kgs of narcotics.

In an intelligence-based joint operation, the Navy and Coast Guard on Monday intercepted the boat carrying narcotics, whose street value is Rs 600 crore, and arrested eight Pakistani crew onboard off Porbandar coast.

Navy sources earlier said they had received an input about a second suspicious boat. “However, when we searched the area, no such boat was found,” they said.

In related development, Pakistan today sought details from Indian Government about the “seizure of two boats and apprehension of their crew members this past weekend as reported by the Indian media.”

According to Sheoran, the arrested crew were handed over to the Porbandar SOG (Special Operation Group) and the samples of the contraband sent to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

Indian agencies will jointly interrogate the Pakistani nationals arrested in connection with the seizure of drugs.

“We want to unravel the truth behind this incident and therefore there is a need to interrogate them (the crew) for two to three days so that details will come out. As many as 20 Indian agencies, right from state police to central agencies, will interrogate them,” Porbandar SP G A Pandya told PTI.

He said apart from state police, Special Operation Group (SOG), Narcotics Control Bureau, Customs, Navy and the Coast Guard, other Central agencies are likely to join the interrogation of the Pakistani nationals.

Pandya said given sensitivity of the issue which is of national security, details related to the interrogation cannot be disclosed at this stage.

He said the seized boat has been handed over to the Customs.

– PTI